Dos Amigos, Portsmouth style

In mid-January, we braved the first cold day of winter to visit Dos Amigos, in Portsmouth NH.

I enjoyed a fish taco - but was completely taken aback that the fish taco is really just a mini-burrito, in that it is served on half a flour tortilla, not a corn tortilla - this is true of all the tacos.



These roasted jalepeños with cream cheese were awesome. All popper like foods should be as good. (Although what is with Dos Amigos and their crunchy rice?? Cook it already! I know that while this view is common, the opposing fans of crunchy rice are just as vocal in their support.)



Wasabi and The Count opened with chips and guacamole, which we all agreed was not in league at all with Wasabi's guacamole.



And burritos! Of course there were burritos. They are enjoyable, they are good, they do an excellent job with the pulled pork and carne asada. (I wish the rice weren't crunchy and then I'd get them all the time.)



Mycroft ordered the quesadillas and they were good - came with rice and beans, making them a very legitimate meal.

All in all, a good visit.

Rochester dining

The past two weeks have been spent in Rochester, NH. Two weeks ago was Wild Willy's, the burger joint. Last week was the fairly new Fat Tony's, two doors down and by the same owner as Slim Tex's.

Wild Willy's was a mixed bag. Mycroft loved his burger, and recommends skipping the sides and going straight for two burgers. This assessment is pretty fair - the sides, although filled with great promise, were terrifyingly greasy.



See? don't those onion rings look great? Hand breaded, very thin, cornmeal . . . they remind me of Wheelies, when it was Wheelies, in Newmarket. But these beautiful looking onion rings were soaked in oil. No good. Ditto the hand cut Maine potato french fries.



Solid's bbq, bacon, and pickle burger:



Zeus had grilled cheese, which I believe was also greasy. Mycroft had the chili burger. Here is my green chile cheese burger - I was soooooo happy to see this on the menu, and it was pretty good. The green chiles needed to be roasted longer.



On to Fat Tony's. I'm only going to provide this single picture of fried ravioli, a. because it was dark in there and the pictures didn't turn out well, but also b. because we did not like the food and there is no need to reproduce bad and bad looking food.



The menu was painfully stereotypical, the bread was crap, the lasagna on my plate was filled with a horrible quantity of green bell peppers cooked to death, the alfredo tasted like broccoli - and on and on with similar complaints. It wasn't a complete disaster, but it wasn't good. As Solids said as we were leaving, "I don't think we'll be coming back here anytime soon."

100 years from now all the children will say,

"It's Monkeys' Night!"

The inaugural Monkeys' Night occured at the home of Wasabi and The Count, with Zeus, Solids, Mycroft and Moxie also present.

Featured consumables included Monkey Nog, turn-children-into-alcoholics-beer-banned-in-Maine, cheeeese, Monkey Brains casserole, salad, meatloaf, and Brownies By Zeus.

The list of featured high-jinks is quite extensive. In summary, there were prizes, competitions involving monkeys in a barrel to see who would go first in competitive games, more competitions to see who would go first in other high-jinks, a Monkeys' Night Swap (in which each item had to be found AND had to be able to be used by a Monkey in the coming Robot Uprising), Scene It, and the Monkeys' Night Wish.

I'm not sure how much I should let the general public know about the Monkeys' Night Wish, especially considering recent happenings, so I'll just post this picture:

Notably missing was a re-enactment of the story of Monkeys' Night. Again, not sure how much should be shared so I will just say that it involves 1 lone Monkey and the Robot Uprising. And kung fu. Or maybe muay thai.

Arrrrrrr

Tuesday, September 19th is Talk Like a Pirate Day.

And yes, this is an appropriate Movers post.

Playing catch-up:

September 13th, sushi at Sakura in Portsmouth. Zeus doesn't really like gourd.
September 6th, used up a gift certificate at KNR in Portsmouth. Moxie got drunk, but still doesn't like the place.
August 30th, Solid's Movers (and real) Birthday! We had an awesome experience at Habachi, with the best habachi chef *ever*. It was really really fun. Followed by bowling at Bowl-a-rama and pineapple upside-down cake. Special guests Al & Stephanie were a good addition.

I'm missing Augusts 23, 16 and 9 - one of those was the Jamaican Jerk Center fiasco, and the other two?

summary

we're really missing like a month of Movers events here - so I thought I would do a summary for posterity, though my memory is really very terrible and I doubt I will be successful. Chiming in and corrections highly encouraged:

July 12: Jazz @ the Academy Library, followed by a ho-hum dinner at 11 Water Street, Exeter

July 19: Slim Tex's in Rochester (thank you Wasabi!) this place probably deserves its own post. When we first went there in April (we think, we remember it was a bit before Cinco de Mayo), most of us were basically expecting it to be not very good at all. It was actually awesome! We had a great time, loved our drinks, loved the food (which is most definitely Tex-Mex and *not* Mexican - but that's what they are going for, so there's no false advertising). There were also ample bottles of hot sauce everywhere, so we wanted to take our beloved Hot Sauce! there upon his return.

This visit, Slim's was like we had anticipated it was going to be before our first visit, except now we thought we liked it, so the dissapointment was double. It wasn't tragic, and it most definitely could've been an off night, but . . . we hated our drinks, the food was meh . . .

July 26: La Famiglia, Greenland

August 2: Wasabi's Birthday!!!! @ Radici, Portsmouth

tricky tricky -

We fooled you all! and went to El Mexicano Jr.

The food was of course, totally amazing and wonderful. The trip there and back was overly-adventurous, involving excitement and danger in many forms (including out-of-control vehicles, and Mycroft and Ace being abandoned in the ghetto of Manchester and being forced to fend off would be boyfriends!)

You'll just have to come this week (Jamaican?) for the details . . .

5th of July -

in attendance: Mycroft, Moxie, Solids, The Count, Zeus, and Wasabi.

There were mountains of food on the 4th. So many mountains, that before the feasting even began we made plans for Movers to be leftovers on the 5th. Except there was so much food we didn't even cook on the 4th that it was hard to actually call it leftovers, really, it was just more new food.

We had burgers with delicious toppings and seasonings by The Count, experimental (and I thought pretty good) mushroom tofu burgers, shrimp, assorted actual leftovers like sweet potato and cherries and home-made ice cream and cheesecakes and cauliflower and cheese, and these little beauties, envisioned by Solids and executed by Solids, Moxie, and Mycroft:

Pineapple wrapped in bacon, cooked on the grill.



Mycroft is attempting to turn the bacon-wrapped pineapple, although he kept catching on fire.



close-up: bacon grease + charcoal = lots and lots o' fire. yummy scary fire.

Following the feasting we played our new favorite game (besides croquet, bocce ball, wiffle ball, miniature golf, etc.) SceneIt?. It is great fun.

Zeus's Movers Birthday

* draft - I need more pictures - anybody?*


For her birthday, Zeus requested an Alice in Wonderland Croquet Tea Party Extravaganza. With such a good idea to build off of, we were off and running.

Tea Party hors d' oeuvres: little toasts, some with goat cheese and artichoke, some with blue cheese and quince jelly; strawberries, haricot verts with a vinaigrette, cucumbers, and potato chips

Tower of sweets - cookies galore.

Other foods featured: iced teas, tea sandwiches (green pea, mint, and creme fraiche; watercress and cream cheese; peanut butter and jelly), oyster-mussles and bread and butter, and cupcakes.

An outrageously good time was had by all.

Aroma's Italian Cafe

The Movers heartedly welcomed the latest addition to Commercial Alley, in the home of what used to be the Bear's Den and is now Aroma's Italian Cafe, complete with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, very very charming outdoor seating, pastries galore and the best (non-Mexican) hot chocolate ON THE PLANET.

In attendance: Solids, Zeus, The Count, Wasabi, Mycroft & Moxie

The Count's Insalata Di Spinaci
(spinach, mushrooms, red onions, tomatoes, strawberry vinaigrette)

Zeus's Caprese
(mozz, tomatoes, basil, olive oil on ciabatta)

Mycroft's Salmone & Caprino
(smoked salmon, red onions, capers, lemon juice, olive oil, goat cheese on focaccia)

Moxie's Focaccia Imbottita
(foccacia with mozz, tomatoes, and prosciutto)

Solid's Italiano
(italian deli meats served on sfilatino)

Wasabi's intriguing frittata con spinaci & fontina (I call dibs on this next time)
(omlette with spinach and fontina served on sfilatino)

Zeus's Pineapple Ripieno
(yes! that really is a pineapple half filled with pineapple sorbetto)

Mycroft's Hazelnut Mousse
("A layer of hazelnut crunch nestled between layers
of chocolate sponge cake, topped with hazelnut mousse")

Moxie's hot chocolate
(When I ordered this drink as dessert, the waiter got really excited. He said something like, "Our hot chocolate is the best. You'll see." It really is amazing. I always want to say its like drinking chocolate, which sounds kind of 'duh' but is really quite rare in hot chocolate. It is also very light, not heavy or sticky or creamy, but at the same time is rich. Very good.)

The Movers 1st Anniversary! at Lindbergh's Crossing, an interactive quiz!

On June 7th, we celebrated our first anniversary on the day and location of our birth. Appropriately, it was again a ridiculously dark and stormy night. We were again 5: Solids, Zeus, Wasabi, Mycroft, & Moxie.

The quiz part: this contest is open to all Movers not present at the anniversary event. Spouses are eligible as long as they promise not to cheat. Here's how to play: match the picture to the Mover and figure out who had what. Use of background clues highly encouraged. The prize: fame, glory, and a really great surprise prize payable upon sight (it will not be mailed).

Picture 1: "Sautéed Escargots in a mushroom, sherry butter sauce finished with raclette"
(all descriptions from the Lindbergh's Crossing early summer menu).

[i have no idea what happened to these picture but i think it's
wicked funny - adds to the mystery and secretiveness]

Picture 2: "Shellfish Chowder: quahogs, mussels & shrimp in a smoky bacon cream broth"

Picture 3: "Radicchio with spiced pecans, gorgonzola, dried cherries and a balsamic vinaigrette"

Picture 4: "Quail Adobo over grape almond red rice with bok choy"

Picture 5: "Seafood Paella: fish, mussels, shrimp & spicy chorizo sausage stewed in saffron rice"

Picture 6: " Lightly Smoked Sockeye Salmon with artichoke-potato latke, braised greens & herbed crème fraiche"

Picture 7: "Housemade Canneloni of swiss chard, pinenuts & goat’s cheese in a vegetable macédoine"

Picture 8: " Seared Duck Breast over warm romaine & lentils with a grape-rhubarb chutney"

Picture 9: "Canadian Beef Tenderloin au Poivre with mashed yukon gold potatoes and brandy cream reduction"

Picture 10: (they've changed their dessert menu so you're stuck with my memory) berry cannoli cheese yum.

Picture 11: lemon blueberry tarty thing

Picture 12: medium rare chocolate cake

Good Luck!

Bella Rosa, rte 1 North Hampton, April 12th

In attendance: Mycroft, Solids, Zeus, and myself: Moxie

meh.

that't about all I can muster for this most recent incarnation of the place across from the purple bicycle store. It's subtitle is "Brick Oven Pizza" The pizza's were pretty good, not great, not bad.

We started off with onion rings which was a big mistake. We had just had the best onion rings on the seacoast - Wheelies (potentially tragic aside: on a recent trip to Newmarket Mycroft discovered that Wheelies is no longer - they are now part of Mama Lena's of Stratham - we don't know what this means for the future of onion rings on the seacoast) the week before, so it really wasn't a fair fight.

We also tried the cheezy garlic bread, of which I have no memory whatsoever.

The pizzas had good crusts - they weren't bad. I remember that we were dissapointed in the spinach one for some reason. If I had to guess the reason, based on this picture, we were overwhelmed by sundried tomatoes, which should be used sparingly.

The margherita was good - fairly hard to mess up, anyway.

The pineapple and ham and barbecue chicken was genius.

The meat-a-palooza was a little too meaty. Go figure.

Puerco Pibil Night, April 26

Location: Beach Palace
In attendance: Solids, The Count, Wasabi, Mycroft, and myself: Moxie

Ever since I saw the special feature "10-minute cooking school" by Robert Rodriguez on the Once Upon a Time in Mexico dvd I have wanted to make this dish. Not only are the ingredients fascinating, the preparation, the sum total irresistable, but the creation of this 10 minute video is the best example of cinematic foodography (I just made that word up - do you like it?) I have ever seen. It was simply a matter of gathering the ingredients (which took months) and waiting for the right opportunity (school vacation for me), but the stars were aligned in late April, and the results lived up to the long anticipation.

Since the dish itself reminds me of real barbecued pork, we played off the southern food thing with mexican flavors.

best guacamole ever, made by Wasabi

ta da! the puerco pibil.

garlic cornbread

collards

Mycroft's most excellent rice and beans